Ruxton (automobile)
Encyclopedia
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
produced by the New Era Motors Company of New York, New York, USA during 1929 and 1930. The car was the brainchild of William Muller and was built in the Moon Motor Car
Moon Motor Car
Moon Motor Car was a United States automobile company that was based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company had a venerable reputation among the buying public, as it was known for fully assembled, easily affordable mid-level cars using high-quality parts...
factory in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. Kissel Motors
Kissel Motor Car Company
The Kissel Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturing company founded by Louis Kissel and his sons, George and William, on June 5, 1906 in Hartford, Wisconsin. The company custom built high-quality automobiles, hearses, fire trucks, taxicabs, and utility vehicles from their plant at...
of Hartford, Wisconsin
Hartford, Wisconsin
Hartford is a city in Dodge and Washington Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 10,978. The city is growing at estimated rate of 10.66% annually, resulting in an estimated population of 13,900 by January 2009.-Tornado of 2006:The city was the...
, also built a limited number of Ruxtons; it produced the car’s transmission and running gear for its duration.
A car designed to sell to an automotive company
While employed in the engineering department of the Budd Body CompanyBudd Company
The Budd Company is a metal fabricator and major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and was formerly a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars during the 20th century....
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, Muller convinced his employer to invest in developing a front wheel drive prototype automobile. Budd would then sell the rights to the car to an automotive company which would contract with Budd for the body work. While Muller designed the drive train, Joseph Ledwinka
Joseph Ledwinka
Joseph Ledwinka, December 14, 1869 – November 26, 1949 was an automobile engineer.Ledwinka, a distant relative of Hans Ledwinka, was born in Vienna, and emigrated to the United States in 1896 and was employed in his first job as carriage trimmer at the Chicago Coach and Carriage Company where he...
designed the body for the car and the project was completed in 1928.
In an era when the American automobile had an average height of six feet from the ground to the level plain of the roof, Muller’s car was only 53 inches (1,346.2 mm) high, a feat accomplished by eliminating the drive shaft to the rear wheels. Ledwinka accentuated the lowness to ground through the elimination of the running boards.
Instead of attracting an automotive producer, Muller’s concept car attracted the attention of Archie Andrews, a member of Budd’s Board who also sat on the Board of Hupmobile
Hupmobile
The Hupmobile was an automobile built from 1909 through 1940 by the Hupp Motor Company, which was located at 345 Bellevue Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Its first car, the Model 20, was introduced to the public at the Detroit Auto Show in February 1909...
. Andrews recognized the possibilities of producing the car and made it possible for Muller and Budd to present the idea to Hupp.
When Hupp passed on the car, Andrews took on the project himself, and with Muller formed New Era Motors which would market the car. Still, Andrews lacked an ability to build the car, and hoped-for support from Peerless
Peerless
Peerless was a United States automobile produced by the Peerless Motor Company of Cleveland, Ohio from 1900 to 1931. The company was known for building high-quality, precision luxury automobiles. Peerless' factory was located at 9400 Quincy Avenue in Cleveland...
, Gardner
Gardner (automobile)
Gardner was an automobile maker based in St. Louis Missouri between 1920 and 1931.Without a dollar in his pocket, Russell E. Gardner left his home state Tennessee for St. Louis in 1879. Three-and-a-half decades later he was a millionaire several times over. Russell Gardner had made it big in St...
and Marmon
Marmon
Marmon Motor Car Company was an automobile manufacturer founded by Howard Marmon and owned by Nordyke Marmon & Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. It was established in 1902 and was merged and renamed in 1933. They produced cars under the Marmon brand. It was succeeded by Marmon-Herrington and...
failed to materialize.
Moon, Kissel, Ruxton Connection
In November 1929, Moon Motors of St. Louis, Missouri reached an agreement to build the car, which Andrews had by then named the Ruxton, after William V.C. Ruxton, an investor Andrews hoped would support the project; Ruxton didn’t support the project, but it bore his name whether he wanted it to or not. Ultimately, Ruxton sued Andrews simply for the purpose of stating that he in no way supported Andrews or the car itself.Unhappy with Moon's attention to the project, Andrews attempted to take over controlling interest in the company by buying up its stock. Ultimately, Andrews assumed control of the moribund company, much to the chagrin of its President C.W. Burst, who barricaded himself in the company headquarters in protest.
Despite lawsuits and counter suits, the Ruxton went into regular production in June 1930.
When Ruxton finally went on sale, some models sported Joseph Urban
Joseph Urban
Joseph Urban Born in Vienna, Austria, died in New York City, trained as an architect, known also for his theatrical design and his early illustrations of children's books....
color schemes designed to lengthen the appearance of the car through broad bands of white intermixed with vivid colors such as blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
, lavender
Lavender
The lavenders are a genus of 39 species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. An Old World genus, distributed from Macaronesia across Africa, the Mediterranean, South-West Asia, Arabia, Western Iran and South-East India...
and navy blue
Navy blue
Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue which almost appears as black. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue worn by officers in the British Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world....
http://190slgroup.com/pic_stry/2003/11-blackhawk/09aBlackhawk.JPG. Many, but not all, Ruxtons featured the cat-like Woodlight headlights; while sleek, their performance paled in comparison to normal headlights. Most Ruxton owners soon learned that they either drove their cars during the daylight, or had them retrofitted with normal headlights or auxiliary driving lights.
Andrews also entered into a deal with Kissel of Hartford, Wisconsin, to build the transmissions and drive lines. With Moon failing, Andrews turned to Kissel to build the cars, and while the project appeared to be on course, again Andrews grew impatient and started buying Kissel stock in preparation for another take over. Unlike Moon which tried to fight off Andrews, the Kissel Brothers rebelled by filing for receivership in November 1930, and production of the Ruxton came to an abrupt end less than four months after it was introduced.
After effects
After the Ruxton debacle, Andrews set his sights on rescuing Hupp, whether it wanted to be rescued or not. While he was able to seize control of the company, his tenure was short and Andrews was removed by angry shareholders. He died in 1938.Moon Motors legal entanglements continued through the courts until 1965, at which time 355 creditors held claim to the remaining assets of $26,000.
Kissel emerged from its receivership as the Kissel Manufacturing Company and later was merged into the West Bend Aluminum Company.
With a total production of some 500 vehicles, the Ruxton is recognized as a Classic Car by the Classic Car Club of America
Classic Car Club of America
The Classic Car Club of America is an organization founded in 1952 to celebrate the grand automobiles of the prewar period. At the time, the vehicles covered by the Club were considered too modern to be of any interest by such organizations as the Antique Automobile Club of America and despite...
.